Scrutinizing SpaceX, NASA Overlooked Some Boeing Software Problems

[Elderberry]

NY Times by Kenneth Chang 7/7/2020

After a couple of rounds of investigation and some soul-searching, NASA and Boeing believe that they have identified what went wrong during a troubled test flight of an uncrewed Boeing spacecraft designed to carry NASA astronauts.

In addition to the software errors that slipped through undetected and were not fixed before the spacecraft was launched in December, NASA officials admitted that because the agency had worked closely with Boeing for decades, it might not have been paying attention to the company as closely as it should have while it was also placing more scrutiny on SpaceX, which also built a capsule for carrying people to the space station.

“We were, I would say, a little more used to the Boeing process,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program, said during a news conference on Tuesday. “It’s one that we have used in the past on successful NASA programs like space shuttle and the International Space Station.”

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/science/boeing-starliner-nasa.html

[Elderberry]

NASA Steps Up Boeing Software Scrutiny With Lessons From SpaceX

Bloomberg By Justin Bachman 7/7/2020

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-07/nasa-steps-up-boeing-software-scrutiny-with-lessons-from-spacex?srnd=premium

•   â€˜Breaking down how we’ve done things in silos,’ agency says

•   Boeing to run uncrewed test flight to space station this year

NASA plans to use lessons from SpaceX’s approach to software development after a failed test flight by a Boeing Co. craft showed the flaws of more traditional procedures, agency officials said.

After completing an independent review of the Boeing Starliner’s truncated mission to the International Space Station in December, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Tuesday that it would boost oversight of the manufacturer’s repairs.

The review team offered 80 recommendations, with roughly half involving changes in how Boeing and the agency address software development and systems testing.

NASA’s endorsement of SpaceX’s methods was another example of how Elon Musk’s company has pulled ahead of Boeing in the space race. The agency has contracts with both companies to ferry astronauts to the space station. But only Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has done so, flying two astronauts to the orbital lab on May 30.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Boeing's Answer To SpaceX Crew Dragon Test Is Expected Later This Year

 Investor's Business Daily 7/7/2020

https://www.investors.com/news/boeing-starliner-nasa-review-after-successful-spacex-crew-dragon-test/

NASA said Tuesday that another uncrewed Boeing Starliner test flight will happen later this year after an attempt in December failed to achieve key goals. Boeing (BA) stock fell.

But the space agency didn't provide a specific date during a briefing to go over findings of a review that examined the prior flight test.

Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said he wouldn't speculate when the Boeing Starliner would launch again but put it in the latter part of the year.

NASA also said Boeing is addressing 80 recommendations from the Starliner review team. They include improvements in testing and simulation, software, and operations, among other things.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

The engineering culture clash that defines America’s newest spacecraft

Quartz by Tim Fernholz 7/9/2020

CHASING WATERFALL

https://qz.com/1878725/boeings-software-troubles-show-an-engineering-culture-clash/

Software didn’t just eat the world; it ate space, too.

Computing and the US space program are inextricably linked. The Apollo Flight Computer was famously the first built around silicon chips, as NASA engineers realized that the breadth of calculations required to hurl people to the moon demanded a high-speed electronic solution.

NASA’s safety advisory panel described the two companies (pdf) thusly in 2019: “SpaceX focuses on rapidly iterating through a build-test-learn approach that drives modifications toward design maturity. Boeing utilizes a well-established systems engineering methodology targeted at an initial investment in engineering studies and analysis to mature the system design prior to building and testing the hardware.”

Another way to say it is that Boeing relies on “waterfall” system engineering, while SpaceX relies on “agile” systems engineering. These are broad and debated terms that don’t totally capture either company’s culture, but the basic thrust is that Boeing moves linearly from requirements, to design, to test, to build, while SpaceX begins testing earlier, allowing it to modify its design as it moves forward.

More at link.